The Technomancer

The Technomancer, an action RPG from 2016, is not typically the first title that comes to mind for modern hardware stress-testing, yet its engine responds distinctly to both the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. The benchmark data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but which reveals surprising CPU headroom at 1080p. This analysis breaks down exactly how the combo behaves, what limits frame rates at each setting tier, and how it stacks against the broader database.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-12700K sits at the center of this combo with 12 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that dates to its release in 2021 on the Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz give it substantial single-thread headroom, which matters in an older title like The Technomancer. The game's engine was built for a generation of CPUs that rarely exceeded eight threads, but the i7-12700K's hybrid design—with performance and efficiency cores—still handles the workload with ease. The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong in synthetic tests: it scores 19,784 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,850.5 in single-core, while Geekbench shows 15,790 multi-core and 2,308 single-core. Those numbers, though, are far beyond what The Technomancer requires at 60 FPS.

The data indicates that the i7-12700K is never the limiting factor in this game. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system reaches 259 FPS average, a frame rate that would stress many CPUs. Yet even here, the CPU's single-thread score of 1,850.5 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has more headroom: the engine simply isn't extracting that much performance. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 9,276 and the max-threads score of 9,979 show that the processor has substantial multi-threaded capacity, but The Technomancer's workload is light on thread scaling, so it relies on the higher clock speeds. The 5.00 GHz boost becomes the key asset, pushing the CPU to keep up with the GPU at lower resolutions.

When comparing the i7-12700K to its nearest rivals, the data shows it is nearly identical in average benchmark score. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35,305, which is a -0.1% delta, while the i7-12700KF scores 35,365 (-0.2%), and the Core i7-13700T scores 35,403 (-0.3%). The Core 5 213PE at 35,428 (-0.4%) rounds out the list. These deltas are minuscule, meaning the i7-12700K's performance is effectively on par with these parts. In The Technomancer, that translates to zero practical difference; any of these chips would deliver the same frame rates in the scenarios tested. The CPU's 84th percentile among all CPUs places it in the upper tier, but the game itself doesn't stress it enough to differentiate.

The i7-12700K's integrated graphics (UHD Graphics 770) are present but irrelevant here, as the system uses a discrete GPU. Its 125 W TDP and LGA 1700 socket are standard for this generation. The CPU's cache layout—80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3—is generous for an older engine that was designed around smaller caches. None of this changes the game's outcome, but it explains why the processor can sustain high minimum frame rates without stutter. For a 2016 title, the data indicates the i7-12700K is overqualified, which is why the FPS scale is so heavily on the GPU.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and the AD104 chip, it packs 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for The Technomancer's textures at any preset the game can throw at it. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz ensure that the chip is running near its maximum most of the time.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's compute capability is substantial: 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 554.4 GTexel/s of texture fill rate. These numbers suggest the card can handle far more modern titles, but The Technomancer is a lighter load. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 48, which is a clear sign that the GPU is reaching its limits here. The 48 FPS number is a performance bottleneck that the CPU cannot resolve; the engine demands more rasterization than the GPU can deliver at that settings/resolution combo. At 1080p Low, the GPU still produces 259 FPS, which is near the practical ceiling for many monitors, so the card is not handicapped.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's memory of 12 GB is ample for The Technomancer, but the game's engine doesn't use advanced features like ray tracing or DLSS, so the RT cores and tensor cores remain idle. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support is irrelevant here, as the game likely runs on an older API. The GPU's benchmark presence is strong: it scores 29,995 in Passmark G3D and 17108 in GPU compute, while its average benchmark score is 43,223. That places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, which is high, but its nearest rivals show how close the field is. The Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43,262 (-0.1%), the RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43,268 (-0.1%), and the Quadro M6000 scores 43,301 (-0.2%). The RTX 4090 Mobile is 1% higher at 43,667.

These rival deltas are small, so the RTX 4070 SUPER is not a unique performer on paper. In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is decisive: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops more than the CPU's headroom would suggest. The card's 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is enough for 4K textures in this title, but the rendering load at Ultra 4K overwhelms the SIMD units. The data points to a GPU that is strong but not invincible at the highest settings.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates across resolutions tell a clear story: the GPU is the dominant constraint. At 1920x1080, the average FPS for Low settings is 259, which drops to 199 at Medium, 170 at High, and 133 at Ultra. That's a 126 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p, showing the settings have a massive impact. Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings yield 169, 130, 111, and 87 FPS respectively. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is a 90 FPS reduction (259 to 169), which is a 35% decline. At Ultra settings, the drop is 133 to 87, a 46 FPS decline (about 35% as well).

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress further: 93 FPS at Low, 71 at Medium, 61 at High, and 48 at Ultra. The 4K Low setting is 34% slower than 1080p Low (259 to 93), and 4K Ultra is 64% slower than 1080p Ultra (133 to 48). This scaling is classic GPU-bound behavior: the CPU can push over 200 FPS at 1080p, but the GPU's rendering load at 4K overwhelms its compute units. The data implies that the CPU has headroom at 4K, as the FPS drops even when the CPU is not at full utilization.

The most telling metric is the Medium settings row, which includes min and max FPS. At 1920x1080 Medium, the min FPS is 169 and the max is 229, giving an average of 199. At 2560x1440 Medium, the min is 111 and max is 150, average 130. At 4K Medium, the min is 61 and max is 82, average 71. The min-to-max spread is narrow (about 30 FPS at each resolution), indicating a stable frame pacing rather than a CPU bottleneck that would cause hitches. The GPU is consistently the bottleneck, which is why the frame rate scales almost linearly with pixel count.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 592nd out of 3,696 for The Technomancer. That puts it in the top 16% of all combos tested, but it's not a top-tier result. The game is old and the GPU is powerful, so the rank reflects that the RTX 4070 SUPER is not the fastest card ever tested, and the i7-12700K is not the fastest CPU either. The rank of 592 suggests that many other pairings—likely with faster GPUs or more modern CPUs—produce higher frame rates. However, the 4070 SUPER's 83rd percentile GPU score and the i7's 84th percentile CPU score indicate this is a well-matched pairing for most games.

The combo's rank in this specific game is lower than the CPU's percentile (84th) and GPU's percentile (83rd) would suggest, which implies that The Technomancer is not a title that leverages this hardware's strengths. The game's 2016 release date means it may not have multi-threading optimizations, leaving the CPU underutilized. The GPU, while strong, is also not fully used at 1080p, where the CPU could be doing more work if the game asked it to. The rank of 592 out of 3696 is actually a good result, but it's not in the top 100, so there is room for better pairings.

This ranking also reflects the fact that the RTX 4070 SUPER is an end-of-life product on the GPU side (successor is GeForce 50), while the CPU is still active. The data shows that the combo is not the best for this game; it's a 16th percentile, which is decent but not exceptional. The nearest rival GPUs (Quadro M6000 24GB, RTX 5050 Mobile, Quadro M6000, RTX 4090 Mobile) all have similar average scores, so the GPU is not a standout. The CPU's nearest rivals are also within 0.4% of its score, so the entire combo is not an outlier. It's a solid mid-to-upper tier pairing that overachieves at 1080p but falls behind at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured average FPS for each resolution and setting is as follows:

• 1920x1080:
• Low: 259 FPS average
• Medium: 199 FPS average (min 169, max 229)
• High: 170 FPS average
• Ultra: 133 FPS average

• 2560x1440:
• Low: 169 FPS average
• Medium: 130 FPS average (min 111, max 150)
• High: 111 FPS average
• Ultra: 87 FPS average

• 3840x2160:
• Low: 93 FPS average
• Medium: 71 FPS average (min 61, max 82)
• High: 61 FPS average
• Ultra: 48 FPS average

These numbers show a linear scaling with resolution: at each settings level, the average FPS drops by roughly 30-40% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 30-40% from 1440p to 4K. For example, at High settings, 170 → 111 → 61 FPS, which is a 35% and 45% reduction respectively. The Medium settings are the only ones with min/max data, showing that the range is narrow (about 30 FPS), which indicates a consistent frame delivery. The Ultra preset at 4K drops below 60 FPS, which is a concern for smoothness on a high-refresh display. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 259 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but the game is an RPG, so that's not critical.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the best experience balances visual quality with frame rate stability. For a 60 Hz display, the 4K High preset (61 FPS average) is playable but just at the edge; the 4K Medium preset (71 FPS average) is more comfortable if you want headroom. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, the 1440p High preset (111 FPS average) provides a smooth experience with near-max details, while the 1440p Ultra preset (87 FPS average) is still above 60 and offers the best quality. The 1080p preset analysis shows that even Ultra can hit 133 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced action, but the visual gains from 1080p to 1440p are worth the FPS loss.

For a 60 FPS target, the 4K Medium preset (71 FPS) is ideal—it guarantees a decent frame rate without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. The 4K High preset (61 FPS) is also playable, but it sits right at 60, which can cause occasional dips. The 1440p Medium preset (130 FPS) is the best experience for a 120 Hz monitor, as it leaves headroom for dips. The 1080p Low preset (259 FPS) is unnecessary for this game, so the Medium preset (199 FPS) is the one to recommend if a 1080p display is in use.

In summary, the data suggests the sweet spot is the 1440p Medium or High preset, which offers a balanced experience: 111 to 130 FPS average depending on the choice. The 4K Ultra preset (48 FPS) is not recommended, as it drops below the 60 FPS threshold. The 1080p Ultra preset (133 FPS) is fine, but the GPU is overkill for that resolution. The measured min/max at Medium settings show the system is stable, so any preset above 60 FPS average is safe to use. The recommendation is to prioritize the 1440p Medium preset for a 1440p monitor, or the 4K Medium preset for a 4K display, as these deliver the most consistent frame rates without pushing the GPU into its lower efficiency range.